UC Berkeley scientists find a compound that burns fat without the muscle loss seen with Ozempic and Wegovy
A UC Berkeley team led by Anders Naar found that a revived 1970s compound called TOFA raises energy use in mice by up to 18 percent, cutting body fat without the muscle loss linked to GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Published August 21 in Science Advances, the study also found stronger metabolic improvements when TOFA was combined with GLP-1 drugs. TOFA has so far only been tested in animals.
UC Berkeley researchers led by Anders Naar have revived a 1970s compound called TOFA as a possible obesity and diabetes treatment that works by raising the body's energy use rather than suppressing appetite the way GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy (Novo Nordisk, $NVO) or Mounjaro and Zepbound (Eli Lilly, $LLY) do. In mice, TOFA increased energy expenditure by up to 18 percent, reduced body fat without significant muscle loss, and improved insulin sensitivity, triglycerides, and fatty liver disease. Earlier compounds in its drug class were never approved because they tended to raise triglycerides; TOFA did not show that effect. Combining TOFA with GLP-1 drugs produced larger improvements in mice than either treatment alone. The study, published August 21, 2026 in Science Advances, notes that TOFA has only been tested in animals and that its safety and effectiveness in humans is untested. The researchers have founded a company, ReRx Therapeutics, to develop TOFA further, a financial interest disclosed in the study's conflict-of-interest statement.